


Stuck In The Dark

by SilverHorizon



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Gen, Mild Gore, Swearing, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-02-09 10:30:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1979475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverHorizon/pseuds/SilverHorizon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dark Creatures - no one knows where they come from, what they are or what they want, but they sure as hell aint good news. The Strider brothers have been hunting monsters and demons for years now, and they will also take this challenge. But the Dark Creatures aren't only the strongest enemies Dave has ever faced, they also have a purpose nobody would have dared to imagine - and they must be stopped before they succeed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bees

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and thanks for reading! Even though it's not in this chapter, I'd like to tell you in advance that I had to change Nepeta's quirk because ao3 mistakes it for html and eliminates everything, and RichText doesn't allow the format I want. Thus, it's now :33/ instead. I might need to change Equius quirk later on as well. That's all! Enjoy!

The night is dark, the sky is covered with clouds. Not a single star makes it to shine through the thick, grey layer that locks away the deep blue and the bright sparkle behind it. It is the middle of a forest, every single branch is like a hand desperately trying to grab their prey, and the leaves now look like big black masses blocking the view at the sky. There is only the constant noise of the breeze rustling leaves, the howl of a wolf in the distance, but most important, the buzzing of a big swarm of bees in the middle of a clearing in the centre of the forest.

 

Your name is Dave Strider, and you will soon have to fight a monster because of those damn bees.

 

It all started a few weeks ago. Out of nowhere, something you and your brother call “dark creatures” have begun to appear out of nowhere. It wasn't long until Bro created a device to track the dark energy that they spread wherever they go, and you began to start hunting them – that is normal Strider business. You have hunted and killed dark things before. Those dark creatures, or as you like to call them, “darkies”, are just another kind of monster. There's one you already caught that for some reason didn't even run, just sat on the floor and looked kind of...scared. For a second, you even questioned your work, but then quickly pushed that thought away. Dark creatures are dark creatures, and until you haven't found out anything more about them, it is only the best for everyone to keep them somewhere where they can't hurt anyone.

As for the research, you're not the one responsible for that. Rose Lalonde is. She is quite fond of everything dark, which is why you have always found her kind of creepy. However, you also realized that she is a good person to hang out with and that you can trust her in any kind of matter, and finally that she is actually a very good friend. Even though you still find her somewhat creepy.

There is another dark creature you wanted to capture, but it got away. It's a female with a disturbing laugh and red glowing eyes. You almost had her, but you weren't prepared for having to put up with someone who fights so well with a cane. Now she's still out there.

One more dark creature is running around freely as well, the first to ever be seen. You have never met it, but you believe that you will hunt it down as well. From what you've heard it's very strong, with long black hair and the grey skin all of them have. You also know that it has the orange horns typical for those creatures, but you don't know any more details. And that doesn't really matter right now. What matters right now, is the clearing and those bees.

Honestly, you have no idea why the bees are so important, but your brother said that there was a mass of dark energy in this particular clearing, so you just watch. The bees seem busy with something, and their hive is unusually big. Actually, it's fucking gigantic. You doubt that that is natural.

You hide behind a tree on the other side of the clearing, waiting for something to happen. There must be a reason why there is so much dark energy here, and if a new creature awakens, then you will take the chance and capture it immediately. No hesitation. And if you can't capture it, then you'll kill it and bring home the corpse. Rose will happily dissect it. All you have to avoid is letting it get away, or letting it kill you, and that most certainly won't happen. You run your fingers over all the weapons you have with you: a sword, a gun, and some kind of technical stuff you need to capture the creature as soon as it appears. Everything is ready. All you can do now is wait.

And then something happens.

The bee's hive moves a bit, and then falls down the tree. It cracks, and honey drips onto the forest ground. You grab your sword, getting ready for a fight. You step next to the tree you were hiding behind, just in time to see the hive collapse entirely. Honey is flowing in all directions. And rising from that honey is a grey hand.

Something in the honey moves, and an arm follows the hand. Other parts of a body become visible in other spots, knees, an elbow, feet, and finally a face with pointy teeth. The creature sits up, still full of honey, and looks around. It has short dark hair, four of those typical orange horns, one of his eyes are red and the other one is blue, and it is wearing some clothes. You're kind of glad about that, you aren't particularly keen on seeing it naked.

It rises from the honey, and you decide that now is the time to capture it. Quietly, you come closer, but that doesn't make much difference, since it's already looking into your direction. You take out the capturing gear and throw it before the creature could even know you're about to catch it.

The gear stops in the middle of the air, only inches away from the creatures. It's surrounded by a red and blue energy, and that is the exact moment you realize that you might have a problem.

The gear drops, and the creature glares at you. It stands up fully, and you go a few steps backwards as you watch its feet leave the ground. It can float. Holy shit, it can float. You had no idea that dark creatures had the ability to float.

You decide to forget the capturing, and go right to the killing part. You grab your gun and point it at the creature, but before you can shoot a single bullet, the gun slips out of your fingers, moved by the same energy as the capturing gear.

Shit.

You grab your sword and dash towards it, but it just floats a few metres upwards, out of your range. For a second, it just looks at you, then simply floats away. You run after it, but it gets faster soon and after a few minutes, you lose sight of it. Oh fuck, you let it get away. That's awful. That's really really awful. Why did it not even fight you? You can't help but be bothered by the way it looked at you. It didn't seem angry or scared, it rather looked kind of...annoyed. And you could swear you heard the words “I'm too tired for this” before it floated away.

You let a dark creature get away because it was too lazy to fight you. How are you going to explain this to your brother? You sit down onto the forest ground, sighing. Well. Looks like you fucked up. Bro isn't going to be happy about this, another dark creature running around freely. But what were you supposed to do? It levitated away. This makes you wonder, why did neither of the other two? You guess you'll see.

 

* * *

 

The school bell rings, and you don't hesitate a single second to get up. School is boring as hell. You wished you could do some hunting instead, even though you guess it's nice to have a break, and an excuse to go to sleep. John, Rose and Jade aren't in as much of a hurry as you. “Come on guys, don't take forever!”, you say impatiently while they are still grabbing their stuff. Finally all of you walk to the cafeteria together. Rose and you both have dark shadows under your eyes, but yours are covered by your awesome shades. The two of you have been up long yesterday, you were on a hunt and Rose was waiting for you as well as trying to get some information out of the dark creature you already captured. Apparently he didn't run because he's paralysed. That didn't make you particularly feel better.

Luckily, nobody has the slightest idea why the two of you didn't have enough sleep. No one ever questions that, and if they do, Rose just plays it down and says she didn't sleep too well. You are never asked anyway because you don't have any problems hiding it. That's good, the lesser questions, the better. No one should ever find out about your hunting. You aren't even allowed to tell John, even though he is your best friend. And Jade? No way, you don't want to bring her into danger. No way she is strong enough to handle something like a demon, or a ghost. (You choose to neglect your knowledge of her rifle skills, and have of course never seen her actually kicking ass, otherwise you would never come to this conclusion.)

School lunch is gross. Luckily, you have your own lunch with you. No one ever buys school lunch, no fucking one. That's the law of all fictional high schools: lunch is inedible. Why it's made anyway, nobody knows. There are probably some assholes who like to throw it at younger students. You never really thought about it, and you do not right now.

“So, how was that super important thing you were doing yesterday?”, John asks as the four of you sit down. You hate the way he asks it, because you know why he does. He invited you to come to his place but you had to turn him down – once again. The two of you didn't get to spend much time together the past few weeks, and you can only hope that John won't get mad at you. But, let's face it, you're just being delusional. He's totally gonna get mad at you. After all, as his best friend, you are supposed to spend time with him.

You sigh and answer: “Look, I really would've loved to come over but I couldn't. Next time, okay?” He doesn't answer, but if he did, you know he would point out that you said the same thing the last few times. Damn, you just hope you get to kill those darkies soon and spend time with your best bro again.

Rose quickly changes the topic. “I cannot believe that we have to read this utterly boring book. Really, even I do better writing.” And with that, everyone's attention is drawn to something else. You don't participate much in the conversation, neither does Rose, instead you just let John and Jade do the talking. They do enough of that anyway.

Sometimes you really just feel like telling them everything. Hey guys, just so you know, I hunt incredibly dangerous supernatural beings in my free time if you ever wondered. It's not much of a big deal, I've always done that. Learned it from Bro. What I hunt? Every kind of thing. Demons, ghosts, vampires, things like that. Recently been having trouble with some new kind of thing of that we don't know much. We just call them Dark Creatures. Yeah, John, that's why I haven't had much time lately. Sorry. Ah, I'm glad you understand. Oh yes Jade, I know I'm soooo cooool.

 

Yeah, that's probably not at all how that would go. Also Bro strictly prohibited you and Rose from telling anyone, so you just keep silent about it instead.

 

“Dave?” You realize John's trying to talk to you. “What about tomorrow? It's a Friday, we can have a movie night.” You hope that you can somehow convince your Bro to let you go. “Yeah, sure.”, you answer, knowing that that is what you say every time. John smiles, and you suddenly start to miss him. The two of you haven't had bro time in a while. With a bit of luck, you can catch up a bit tomorrow night.

 

Unfortunately, luck isn't on your side.

 

 


	2. Neigh

When you enter the house, everything's a mess. Not that that's unusual. In your home, there's ALWAYS a mess. But it seems that right now, Bro is a mess too. He's running around in the appartment, fussing with various gizmos that do...things. You have no idea which does what and you don't bother asking, it's not like you'd understand anyway. However, you wonder why Bro is so stressed... "Dave!", he shouts as he finally realizes you. "We're in deep shit trouble." Well doesn't that sound great. "What's wrong?", you ask, and Bro points at the darkie radar. You walk over there and have a look. Some spots have appeared on the map. You're pretty sure that means: darkie alert. Bro suddenly stands next to you, and tosses a newspaper next to the screen. "You heard of that girl who died?", he asks, and you nod. Of course you heard of her. Her friends had told her that she would never ever dare to climb on a train, and to prove them wrong, she did. Unfortunately, climbing on a train means getting very close to a lot of electricity which is pretty bad for your health. She died instantly and her friends are probably traumatized for life. You sure are glad that you're not involved. But...what exactly does that have to do with the darkies? Bro points at the newspapers. "Here's a picture of her. And here..." He takes out his mobile and opens a photograph. "...here's a picture of one of the other dark creatures we found." You are unable to close your mouth because holy fuck. That's practically the same girl, just gray-skinned and horns. But that incident happened months ago, how could the corpse possibly be in such a good condition? "Sooo...she turned into a darkie?", you ask, and Bro shrugs. "Not sure.", he answers. "To be honest, I think the darkie awoke in her body." You nod. Alright. So one of the darkies is a living corpse. But why is Bro getting this worked up about that? "Anyway. Dave, bro. I need you to go hunting on the weekend. Actually, scratch that. We're starting now with it." Oh. "Why's that?", you ask, and Bro points at the radar so furiously that you almost expect a lazer beam out of his finger. Yeah, the rader, you already saw that. And you don't really get what Bro is trying to tell you. "Dave.", he says. "Look. This is the one we caught. This is red eyed chick. This is honey dude. This is zombie girl." You nod, not quite sure what Bro's getting at. "What about the others?", you ask. Bro sighs. "I have no idea, and that's the problem! They appeared on the radar, one for one. It got honey dude the day before he actually hatched from his bee hive egg thing, so chances are these are gonna hatch tonight too." You count them. There's three of them. Fucking three. In one night? You're only two hunters! And it's not like you already have three darkies to hunt.... "Okay, Bro, so how do we do this?" You get right to the point. Bro points at the first spot. "Since there's only two of us, each will go after one and one we'll save for later. This one's been moving rapidly while the other two stand still. We'll go after the others since we at least can be sure to pinpoint them." You nod. Understood. "But why does it take all weekend? This is just tonight!" You try to make it sound casual but it doesn't make much of a difference anyway. Bro sighs and explains. "The guy with the big horns talked and long story short, we should catch them as quickly as possible." "Why's that? What did he say?", you ask, worried yourself. Bro suddenly looks concerned. "He said they were going to whipe out humanity."

* * *

Sheesh. Why can't those dark creatures aim at something like, whatever, eating the world's best ice cream or having lunch with Angelina Jolie? Why does it have to be something like, whiping out an entire race? John's gonna hate you for this, you already know for sure. But if the fate of the world is in your hands, you don't really have much time for movie nights.  
You stand next to a meadow, and wait. Night has finally fallen and you're ready to catch that fucking darkie. Bro's on his spot too, and somewhere else in this town, someone's probably being killed by number three. Well. You never asked to be the hero. It's not like you're much of a hero anyway, with all your friends hating you and stuff.  
You sigh and push those thoughts aside. This is really no time for being an angsty teenager, you tell yourself, and tighten your grip around your katana. This makes you feel a little more badass instantly. And you need that, because what you are doing is not badass at all. You're watching horses. And by now, there's nothing unusual about them, they're just minding their own horse business and doing horse things like...eating grass and stuff. You don't really know much about horses.  
You wait another hour or so which you kill by playing Candy Crush on your mobile. Bro would murder you if he knew. But seriously, it's not like you'd miss a darkie like this. After all, you realize when the horses start behaving sort of...weird. It's as if something upsets them, they start neighing quietly, and it sounds a bit like whispers. They're running in circles, all of them in a certain tact, and for the first time in your life, horses creep you out. They create one circle, and walk round for round, all of them in the exact same rhythm. Their hooves sound like drums, drums from an ancient war clan. Shadows fall on the ground, shadows made by the moonlight that seems even brighter than usual tonight. You quickly finish the Candy Crush level and put away your phone.  
Shit's about to get real.  
In the shadows, something starts moving. You creep closer to get a better look at it. In the middle of the circle, a figure crouches - the dark creature, no doubt. It slowly stands up as the horses start walking faster, even running, still in the same rhythm. Still the war drums. You prepare the cables to throw them in time. They have weights at either end, and if thrown correctly, wrap themselves around their target. A small grin appears on your face. This time, you'll get it.  
The creature grows bigger. You now can make out its arms, and its head. Slowly, it rises from the ground, stretching it arms away and raising its head to see where it is. And then, it screams.  
The scream is rough, deep, and makes your bones vibrate. You feel as if your ears are about to pop. For a second, you think you can sense an earthquake.  
The silence leaves your ears ringing. What a voice. You hope it never does that again.  
Clenching your fists, you crawl forward. The horses ran away when that...thing screamed. You dare go up to the fence of the meadow, and duck in the high grass. While the thing still tries to figure where it is, you aim. Carefully, you stand up slowly without a sound - and throw.  
The catching gear hisses through the air, and the creature doesn't even know what hit it as it suddenly finds itself lying on the ground in the middle of a meadow at night. You grin broadly as you jump over the fence and run to the creature. It's struggling to break free. You use the chance to examine it further.  
It's male, and very muscular. Its hair reaches its shoulders, and broken shades cover its eyes. His horns probably both were arrows at some point, but by now, one of them broke off. Seems like a big rowdie. What a catch. You almost laugh at it as it tries to wiggle itself free from the cables.  
You quickly stop grinning when the cables break.  
With a roar, parts of cables fly into all directions and the creature's on its feet again. You grab your katana within a heartbeat. This was NOT how things were supposed to go.  
The thing tries to punch you, but you successfully avoid its fist, and attack. It jumps back and grabs a horse. Before you can process what you are seeing, it throws the horse at you. You think you can feel every single bone in your body being crushed as the animal collides with you. Your mind still can't comprehend what just happened. It threw a horse at you. IT THREW A FUCKING HORSE.  
You try to get up, but your entire body is in pain. The horse is already running away, and you can see the darkie in the distance. Just another failure, and probably a few broken bones.  
Things sure as hell don't look good for humanity.

* * *

Somehow, you make it back. Sure, you could have just called Bro, but you have at least a little bit of pride in you left. At least it's Saturday tomorrow so you won't have to go to school.  
Even Rose looks confused. "Are you 100% positive it threw a HORSE at you?" You nod, too weak to say anything. You've already said everything necessary. She sighs, and puts her notebook away. "This is bad. If it can break the cables, it must have incredible strength. Even if we do capture it, I don't know how we could avoid its escape." Rose is right, you guess. How in the fuck are you going to lock it up? It probably can break a cage easily too...so there's only one option. "Then we have to kill it.", you answer, and Rose gives you a surprised look. "I'm curious as to how you plan to do that, considering that it...well, threw a horse at you. You're incredibly lucky to not be injured worse.", she says, and you sigh. Why is she always right? Guess you don't have any other option left but ask Bro about it.  
The phone rings. Speak of the devil, you think, because you're pretty sure it's him - and you're right. "Bro, what's up?", you ask, hoping he won't ask you how it went for you. "I got news.", Bro answers. "I caught one. But it's really fucking weird." That sounds interesting, you think, and investigate further. "Why, what's so weird about it?" "Well, it didn't even fight...and it won't shut up about miracles."


	3. Hello Kitty

A black cat coming from the left brings bad luck, and you should've known that.

You were just driving on a street. It doesn't matter where you were driving. John, Dave, Rose and Jade are already in their respective homes but you don't care since you have never met them. You never had and never will have anything to do with them. You are just an unimportant person in the background. In fact, you are so unimportant that you don't even have a name, and we won't bother with naming you since you will not appear again after this chapter.  
As already mentioned, you were driving when it happened. A black cat appeared out of nowhere, on your left, and ran right in front of your car. There was nothing you could've done. Right? Right. Of course you immediately stopped and jumped out of your vehicle to see if the cat got away. But to your horror, you see it's corpse pressed onto the asphalt of the street. Its bones are crushed and its fur is soaked with blood. You are starting to shake, the view upsets you strongly, you just ran over a cat. Oh god, what now? You look around yourself, nobody saw you. Okay. If you just- If you just leave right now, maybe no one will ever find out. Okay, someone will eventually find the cat, but they'll never know it was you. What though if it belonged to someone? What if it belongs to an old lady, or a family with young kids? You just killed their best friends. Oh god, you killed someone. Well, a cat, but a cat is often like a person to some people. And if you look at it, you just know that it must have felt pain. Now in hindsight you also think you heard it scream before it died. Died. Dead. Because of you.  
You just can't stand it anymore. The coward you are, you hop into your car and drive away high speed, away from that cat. Oh dear god, the picture of it will haunt your nightmares. Maybe it's just for the best if you try to forget it.

You of course have no idea what an impact this cat's death just made.

You do not know it, but the cat's eyes have opened again.  
Their colour has changed. They're yellow now, and the moment they're open, the cat begins growing. It becomes bigger. Its legs grow longer, its head begins to change its shape. At a certain point, it starts losing its fur, one hair by one, revealing more and more gray skin. Only a spot on the head doesn't lose any hair, instead it grows longer and longer. The nose deforms to something looking a lot more human. Under some of the fur, there is cloth: a green coat, blue gloves, and a blue tail. Its front paws leave the ground and it looks as if it's standing up, or it would, if anyone saw it. Its claws are extended, slowly turning blue, while its paws are slowly deforming and begin to look like hands. The ears transform into orange forms that remind of horns.  
In the middle of the street, where just a minute ago was a dead cat, stands a young lady. Her skin is grey, her hair is black, two horns shaped like cat ears are on her head. She is wearing black clothes, a green coat and on the coat, a blue tail is attached. Blood is dripping from all over her, her T-shirt goes red and her hands are covered in it. She looks at them, quite fond of what she sees. Smiling, she leans forwards and licks the red liquid of her fingers. A noise comes from her throat, it sounds a bit like a purr. Her eyes dart from side to side, wondering where to go next, as she realizes she's forgotten something. Her hands, still partially bloody, reach into her bag and pull out a blue cap with a cat face on it. “Can't forget that!”, she giggles and puts it on.

Your are now Nepeta Leijon, and you have finally awoken.

 

Considering that this might give away spoilers and also that we have not yet reached the point when you can be the antagonist, you stop being Nepeta again. You think that is very sad. You were very happy to be Nepeta, but I'm afraid I can't let you do that. Just be Dave again for a while.

Being Dave is right now a shit position. Shit, because you let another dark creature escape and you REALLY start to feel bad about the other dark creature you caught. It can't walk and it has self esteem issues, and apparently Bro caught its best friend too. Maybe you really are a bit of an asshole after all.  
Rose doesn't seem to be bothered by any of this much. She is still happily interviewing the new dark creature Bro caught yesterday, and shit's getting really weird. You're sitting next to Rose but you're not supposed to talk or she'll threaten you which results in you laughing at her but once you are in your cuddly bed and trying to sleep, you will feel a wave of paranoia wash over you and suddenly see her cold, purple eyes in every corner of the room, filled with the hunger for your blood. It's happened before.  
Also, you have to admit, she's become really good at these psycho games. When you were 12, you used to make fun of her for her psychology schtick but she kept it going anyway and now, four years later, she's pretty much a pro. She can read those creatures as if their thoughts were written all over their face, and she knows exactly which questions she has to ask to dig in further. It's just that, inside the dark creature you're interviewing right now, there's not really much to dig up.  
“Yeeeah...it was a miracle.” Rose sighs. “Is this your explanation to everything?” “Yeah. Miracles, man, I tell ya. Miracles are the explanation for everything.”, the creature answers, grinning broadly. Rose nods as if she'd actually get what he's saying, and keeps on asking. “So, what is responsible for these miracles?” “You know it's like the motherfucking deal with miracles that you don't know where they motherfucking come from. They're just motherfucking miracles.” Rose raises an eyebrow. “You do say motherfuck a lot, don't you?” “Yeah, motherfucker.” The creature giggles, and you're even more weirded out. Rose however stays 100% cool. “I am convinced it is miraculous, but what exactly is your purpose?” The creature cocks its head. “Purpose?” “Yes. Surely you have a, umm, motherfucking purpose? A reason why you're here?” “Aaaah. Yeah. Motherfucker had me confused for a second.”, the creature explains. “I'm here because we are awaiting the mirthful messiahs. He is our most beloved motherfucker and he will return and fill the world with motherfucking miracles. I think.” “The mirthful messiahs, huh?”, you murmur, and you and Rose exchange glances. Well, you exchange glances with Rose. You're not sure if she actually saw you looking at her because you still have your damn awesome shades on.  
Rose keeps interviewing the guy for a while, but there's nothing else you manage to squeeze out of him – not because he keeps things a secret but because he's the dumbest thing you've found in a while, and probably doesn't know shit at all. You simply put him into a cell and give him some food so he'll shut up about miracles. Unsurprisingly, the guy can speak while chewing and you end up leaving him alone because you can feel your nerves crumbling. On any other day, you might be okay, but today's even worse.  
A pizza is waiting for you in the kitchen. Rose is already eating. She tells you that Bro chucked down his own food hastily and then ran off to check on his gizmos. Everything's going crazy because of these fucking dark creatures, and you didn't really make that any better by letting one get away.  
Sighing, you sit down and start to eat. Rose puts away her own piece and puts on her psychologist-face. “It seems there's something bothering you. Would you like to talk about it?” Just as you're going to tell her no, you can feel your phone buzzing in your pocked. You just leave it there, you already know what message you got. Rose however seems to have realized.  
“Aren't you going to answer?”, she asks, but it's not really a question. Rolling your eyes, you grab your mobile and open the message. It's exactly what you've expected.  
Rose peeks over your shoulder and reads the entire message dialogue.  
You: sorry bro cant come today, sick  
John: you should see a doctor. maybe check if you have a friend allergy because you're sick pretty much every time we planned to do something.

Right that moment, your phone buzzes again.

John: actually scratch that. if you have a friendship allergy then it won't be a problem from now on because you don't have a friend to react allergic to anymore. i'm out.

A bomb explodes insider your chest and turns every bit of your heart into ashes. You feel like something ripped a hole into you, as if something essential was taken from you. Thing is, it was. John just...you hardly dare even think it, but you know it's true.  
John just cancelled your friendship.  
All you can do now is pray. Pray that he won't be mad at you anymore on Monday. Pray that you'll get to have bro time again soon. Pray that these darkies disappear soon and you will finally spend time with John again.  
You even consider praying to the mirthful messiah, because you could really use a miracle right now.  
You shove your pizza carton over to Rose. “Eat up, I'm not hungry anymore.”, is all you say, but Rose knows exactly what's up. “Do you want to talk about it?” She still has her psychologist face on, but after all these years of friendship, you know she's asking you as a friend.  
Before you can give her an answer, she grabs your shades. “John gave them to you, didn't he? They must be very precious to you.” You nod and quickly snatch your shades back. You can feel yourself tearing up and Rose REALLY doesn't need to see that.  
Rose puts a hand on your shoulder and smiles like a professional. “I believe that John wouldn't act like this if he knew how strongly you treasure him.” “Yeah so you're telling me to have an emotional fucking drama and everything's gonna be fine? Even if I told him how much he means to me, he probably wouldn't even believe it. He'd be like, yeah, you're saying that so I won't be mad at you anymore, right? I wished it was as easy as that, man, I really wished, but John's not an idiot. I mean, yeah, he is an idiot. But not that much of an idiot.” Rose shakes her head. “He is absolutely an idiot. Otherwise, he would realize how important he is to you.” “Otherwise, he wouldn't have made friends with me in first place.”, you respond before grabbing your phone and standing up. You don't need any more of Rose's blabbering. It's not going to change any of what happened. With an empty feeling in your chest, you leave a sighing Rose behind.

Once you've locked yourself in your room, you finally decide to let it go. Crying quietly so Bro can't hear you, every kind of thought strikes your mind. You fucked up. You're doing it all wrong. You can't do your job right and you can't treat your friends right. You even walked away from Rose without a word, even though she was just trying to help you! And you've disappointed John so often that you've driven him to the point where he's sick of you. All just because of this fucking monster hunting bullshit of which you wished it had never entered your life. You wished you could live like John, with a normal dad, in a normal house, doing normal things. You've never wanted to be some hero, and you've never been one. You don't care if some people have you be Dave, the incredible monster slayer. Honestly, you'd much rather be Dave, the guy.  
But there's no way out of this shit.  
Your emotional breakdown is interrupted by your phone buzzing one again. Surprisedly, you take it, hoping that John changed his mind. The message, however, is from a number you've never seen before. Wondrously, you open it.

[unknown]: :33 / *the cat approaches the hunter*  
[unknown]: :33 / *she jumps and tackles her target onto the floor*  
[unknown]: :33 / *she says hi! i'm nepeta! what's your name?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about Nepeta's writing but I had to change the quirk because the html just kept fucking it up, thinking that her normal quirk thing is part of the html (I can't even put that thing into the notes because ao3 vaporizes my notes if I do. I tried.) I also don't want to do Rich Text because it puts so much space between the paragraphs, and I want to upload it the way I wrote it. Also, it tends to fuck up my writing, it has deleted all my paragraphs before and put the whole text in an entire block. So, I'm afraid I'll just have to change Nepeta's quirk instead. I hope you can forgive me and that you'll keep reading anyway!! <3


	4. Messages from a crazy cat girl

You stare at your mobile and try to process what the fuck just happened. Who is this kid and why's she writing you? Did she just type a random number? You guess there's no way around asking her.

You: okay now who the fuck are you

Also, Nepeta...what kind of name is that? Surely none you've ever heard. Before the girl can answer you, you quickly save her number as crazy cat bitch, but then change it to Nepeta. At least your mobile will recognize her number now.

Nepeta: :33 / i just told you!  
You: also is there like any deeper meaning behind the :33 / thing or are you trying to annoy me with it  
Nepeta: :33 / that's my cat face and a speech bubble!!! don't be so rude...i know it's tough losing your friend but that's no reason to be angry at me! :((  
Nepeta: but i guess i can stop doing it if you really need that

It takes you a second to process that information, and another to freak out.

You: okay now how the fuck did you find out about the thing with john  
You: ever heard of privacy  
Nepeta: my friend hacked your mobile

Oh just GREAT. So this kid's been reading your messages the entire time? Who even is she? What the fuck is a Nepeta? Google informs you that it's the latin word for catmint. This girl's name's literally cat mint. Finding out about this fact makes you hesitate for a second because are you supposed to believe this? Just...an unknown number is telling you that their friend's hacked your mobile and she read your messages. And is named catmint.  
Sure, John. You'll definitely fall for that. But you'll let him have a bit of his revenge, you guess.

You: why would you hack my mobile  
Nepeta: i think he wanted to find out what you know about the uh  
Nepeta: what do you call them?  
You: sick beats?  
Nepeta: ah yeah. dark creatures.

Nevermind. This isn't John.  
You're beginning to panic.

Nepeta: also i think i'm not supposed to tell you this  
Nepeta: i'm actually supposed to hate you :(( but i want to be friends with you!  
You: wait what  
You: okay so how do you and your friend know about dark creatures  
You: who even is your friend  
You: whyre you supposed to hate me

She's not answering anymore.  
You guess it's going to be a long message she's typing right now. Maybe you should tell Bro about this. Actually, yes, you definitely should. This Nepeta girl knows about dark creatures and so does her friend...they might be allies. Or in deep shit trouble. You doubt they're enemies though, at least this Nepeta kid. She seemed nice enough after all. You just hope she won't be in danger for writing you. If you just knew who she is...  
Just as you get up to go looking for Bro, you finally receive an answer from Nepeta. It's surprisingly short, but you can hardly believe what it is saying. A cold shiver runs down your spine and you freeze in place, staring at your mobile.

Nepeta: do you really thiink iid let her pa22 out iinformatiion ju2t liike that?  
Nepeta: conver2atiion ii2 over. and no thii2 ii2 not nepeta.

Her so-called "friend" must've caught her. She told you things you're not supposed to know. She's supposed to hate you. And now she might be in trouble...only because she wanted to be friends with you. Or even in serious danger. These guys know about dark creatures, so it's not just regular people you're dealing with. They know about MONSTERS. And you're not supposed to know they know, which can't be good.  
You don't waste another second standing around and run to find Bro.

* * *

"Okay, the mobile phone tracker's got her. Let's go." Before Bro can even finish that sentence, you've already jumped to your feet and are running downstairs. Bro's following you at the same pace, since he also wants to know who this mysterious Nepeta is and why she knows about dark creatures. The two of you jump into the car and seconds later you're racing along a street, following the map the device displays. According to it, Nepeta is just outside the city. Or well, at least her mobile is.  
You prepare yourself with your weapons. Of course both of you have your katanas with you, but you also have two guns hidden underneath your clothing and a few knives in case shit gets serious. You are MONSTER HUNTERS after all. Bro is driving far faster than legal but neither of you cares. It's not like you don't have ways to get around the police. Sure, you're technically hunters of all that supernatural stuff, but there's no reason why you shouldn't use it for your own advantage from time to time.  
Bro stops abruptly. "It should be somewhere here.", he says, not that that needed clarification. Both of you jump out of the car and carefully look around. There's no one there...  
Suddenly, you spot something in the grass. Shock takes over your body as you realize it's red. Blood? Maybe even Nepeta's blood? You can't help but blame yourself. Reluctantly, you force yourself to move closer to it.  
First, you're relieved as you realize it isn't actually blood. Then you switch to confusion because that is...a bow?! What in the world is a red bow doing here, in the middle of nowhere? Probably just some trash, but you might as well have a closer look. And you're glad you did.  
In the middle of a meadow, half buried in the dirt and decorated with an oversized red bow lies a mobile phone.  
You suspiciously bow down and touch it, expecting a bomb to explode any moment. Nothing happens. Carefully, very carefully, you pick it up and have a look at it. There's a sticker with a cat on it on one side. Quickly, you get your own mobile and have another look at Nepeta's first message: ":33 / *the cat approaches the hunter*". Cat. Nepeta's definitely into cats.  
You press the unlock button and the screen goes bright, telling you to slide to unlock. You do and there's another picture of a cat as background. Before examining it further, you take a moment to cheer because there's no password.  
Alright. Done with cheering. Time to investigate.  
You have a look at the messages, and are surprised to only find one chat dialogue. It is, lesser surprisingly, yours. There's no doubt anymore. This is Nepeta's mobile.  
"Bro!", you call. "They left her mobile here!"  
You guess finding Nepeta won't be as easy as you thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I actually enjoy writing this, even though I actually only picked up after starting it like a year ago or something. I hope you enjoy reading this!!


	5. Battle Encounter

You are now Sollux.  
This is extremely surprising since you assumed that you wouldn't get to be Sollux anytime soon. But now, here you are, and you are happy about this miracle truly happening.  
Also...you're pissed.  
A girl crouches next to you and pouts. Her hair is short and so is she, but you're smart enough not to underestimate her. There are muscles hiding under this green coat she's wearing, and her hands that are covered with fingerless gloves are something that can spread pain without mercy. To be honest, you're sort of glad that she's so childish and never even considered threatening you with violence. You'd probably be in trouble if she did that.  
Right now, your fingers are slamming your laptop's keyboard while letters rush past you on the screen. This is bad. Why did she have to contact him? What a bother. You guess he won't be sending messages from his mobile now...you can only hope you can hack his brother's mobile.  
"Sooolluuuux, why do we have to hate them?", the girl pesters you, and you sigh. "Well firtht of all, one of them tried to kill me!" "No he didn't!", the girl argues, "He tried to kill-" "Yeah, I know, but it'th almotht ath if he tried to kill ME.", you interrupt her before she can spoiler any readers. But you guess you owe her an explanation. "Look. They might think they're the good guyth but they're thtill hunterth. And you know why I'm doing thith, don't you?" "For adventure?" "No, becauthe I- Wait. THAT ith the reathon you're helping me? Adventure?" As you are starting to get angry, the girl just confusedly tilts her head. "Yeah! Why, what are you doing this for then?" You sigh, and look at the screen again. Didn't she realize? Doesn't she already know? How did she not figure? "All of thith, I'm doing all of thith only...for Aradia."  
You don't speak anymore after that. Only the clicking noises of your laptop keyboard fill the room and build up a wall between the two of you. You're sort of glad about that. If she had started pestering you about your reasons any further, you might have to bury a corpse.  
After some more hammering onto the keyboard, you're finally there.  
"Nepeta!", you shout a bit louder than you intended. The girl leans over your shoulder and takes a look at the screen. "I don't understand any of this.", she tells you as if it wasn't clear. But that doesn't bother you right now.  
You enter some commands and your laptop lists all the message dialogues this guy has. You take a look. There are:  
\- lil bro  
\- Lalonde small  
\- Lalonde tall  
You have no fucking idea which to choose. They're all sorta...wasn't this guy like, supposed to be a professional or something? Whatever. Just as you want to choose the lil bro dialogue, another window opens. It says:

Incoming call: Eavesdrop? y/n

You enter a "y" and the window vanishes, only to be replaced by another one. A second later, there's a clicking sound and you can hear a voice. "Rose? What's wrong?", it says. Someone else sighs. "Why is it that you always keep forgetting your other duties?", a female voice answers. You guess that's Rose. She continues: "I know that these dark creatures occupy you but you're losing focus. We've got another problem and it's right in front of us." "Other problem?" Damnit. So this conversation won't be about dark creatures after all, which is all you're interested in. However, you still listen as Rose says: "Vampires. Remember? There was a bunch of vampires you wanted to take care of and if you don't do that soon, we'll be in...how do you always say this? Deep shit trouble." Vampires? So that's a thing too now? Well, they are monster hunters after all, so you could've figured.  
Rose gives that guy details about the vampire's approximate whereabouts and the guy tells Rose not to write Dave any messages cause Dave's phone's been hacked. You can't help but snicker while Nepeta is still pouting because you wasted her precious phone. But really, it's her fault for texting that guy in first place.  
At the end of the conversation, you don't know anything more about dark creatures than before, which isn't much. They've started appearing randomly and their purpose isn't clear. They're strong and pretty dangerous. They have orange horns, yellow eyes and grey skin.  
You look at your hand as you think about that. Dark Creatures aren't so different from humans, you guess, besides their colouring scheme.  
Dark Creatures have grey skin.  
You don't.

* * *

After all this mystery and stuff you guess it's time to be Dave again. Bro just told you about em vampsies. You just wished they wouldn't do much more than sparkle and make out with teenage girls, but this aint Twilight. What you're dealing with are bloodthirsty monsters that hunt for living humans at night. Luckily, daytime isn't really their time, and it's still not all that late. If you hurry, you'll be done before things get complicated, which is to say, before sunset.  
While you're driving home, you wonder what John's doing. It's Friday afternoon, and he's probably really pissed because instead of hanging out with you he's sitting on his lonely ass at home. You feel really bad about that. You're also starting to feel bad about not even bothering with Jade because she's actually hella cute and you know she likes you a lot. Like, not "a lot" a lot. Just a lot as in, you're sorta important or something and it's a really asshole thing of you to just leave her hanging like that all the time and treat her like she's nothing more than a person to eat lunch with.  
You quickly push away all these thoughts to prevent another emotional breakdown. Bro doesn't really need to see you cry.  
The moment you're back, serious business is going down. Bro and you collect your vampire hunting gear, including a bunch of sharp sticks because that's how you kill vampires after all. Also, both of you grab some garlic and put on neck-protectors. They're some sort of metal collar you both wear so that no vampire can bite your necks. Of course, you can't do that all over your body, but it's important to protect your throat artery since vampires especially love that one.  
Rose gives you quick information on where to find the vampires and off you go. No time to deal with darkies right now, they won't take over the world just yet and if vampires are out after the dark, they spread pretty fast and suddenly you're fighting an army of human mosquitoes.  
The car races to the place Rose described. It's an empty building outside the city, and apparently, the vampires are in the basement. There are a bunch of empty houses in this area due to, well, the last time there were vampires and you didn't kill them as soon as you knew about them. Dark times. You don't like to talk about them.  
Empty houses are on both sides as you see something move. For a second you think it was just a stray cat, but then, you spot a silhouette. Immediately, you ask Bro to stop, and he does as you say. You jump out of the car and stay in the shadows while approaching the figure carefully. Slowly, you creep closer until you can finally see what it is.  
It's a darkie.  
It's female, and its- okay, HER hair is short. She wears a green coat and something blue's attached to it, whatever that's supposed to be. Upon further examination you assume its a cat tail because the darkie also has claws on her hands and her horns look like cat ears. That reminds you of Nepeta, which sort of feels like a gut punch. Nepeta. The cutie you were trying to save, but couldn't. Well, you can only hope she's still alive.  
Slowly, you grab a gun and aim. You don't want to kill it/her yet, capturing it/her would be better, so you're gonna shoot its feet and thus stop it from escaping.  
The gun makes a clicking noise as you unlock it and get ready to shoot. That's your mistake.  
The creature jumps and turns around. While you have flashbacks to "The Silence Of The Lambs", it hisses and skips away. You try to shoot but miss it. It's really fast.  
A moment later you have your katana in your hands. Guns are fine, sure, but there's nothing like an awesome badass sword. This time, the darkie won't get away with it. You're about to finish kitty girl right here, right now.  
The darkie accepts your invitation and tackles you. You get the katana between the claws and your face just in time, and push her hands away. She wastes no time and darts forwards again, going for your legs this time. A painful scratch on your right, but now is your moment: You slash the katana downwards, cutting right into your shoulder. She screeches and hisses, but isn't giving up yet. Four sharp claws are coming towards your face and as you defend them, another four slash your stomach. With a gasp and a kick, you transport her a few meters away, and now you attack.  
You go for her leg again, which is a mistake. She easily avoids it, but you don't give her any time and go for her waist. Your katana hits her left side as she jumps away, and a green liquid escapes it. Only now you are realizing that there's also green liquid on her shoulder and green liquid on your katana.  
Do darkies have green blood?  
You don't have time to worry about colours right now. She tackles you, and this time, her bare hands hit your shoulders and you fall onto your back. Instinctively, you push your sword upwards and hit her stomach, but your head's a mess. You hardly realize how you've been sliding a few meters. The darkie raises a hand and tries to turn your face into scars, but you manage to avoid it. As she strikes out, you take the chance and push the whole thing over, making her the one stuck underneath you. You don't hesitate one more second, take your katana, and stab.  
For a moment you're too dumbfounded to process what just happened. Your katana is stuck in the ground, and something grey-green is wrapped around your waist. The darkie. She managed to avoid your blade after all.  
Before you can react, she's slid out of your grip and is on her feet again. You hurry and get the katana out of the dirt, but she doesn't seem to be looking for a fight anymore. "Why are you trying to kill me?", she hisses, and you don't really know what to answer. Because you're a darkie? That's sorta racist. Because your purpose in this world is whiping out humanity? Yeah, that's a better answer. But you doubt it's a serious question anyway.  
The girl looks as if she's expecting some answer, and you begin to doubt your doubts.  
"I wasn't gonna kill you.", you answer at some point, "Not until you tried to kill me." "Why did you point a gun at me then?!", the girl exclaims and actually makes a good point. You search for an answer that doesn't make you look like the bad guy here. "It was..sorta like...so that I wouldn't have to kill you. You know, it's like, we whether kill things that are supposed to whipe out humanity, or we catch them and stop them." The girl tilts her head. "So that's what I'm supposed to do? Whipe out humanity?" You don't really know how to deal with the sincerity of this question. The girl however cracks a smile. "And there I was wondering why I existed! So I guess I don't have to find her anymore..." "Her? Who her?", you ask quickly, and the kitten girl answers with a grin. "Nepeta!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any of you confused yet? Also The Silence Of The Lambs is a great film and you should totally see it if you haven't already.


	6. Car Crushing

You're being Bro now because you were wondering what Bro's been up to this whole time anyway.  
After Dave jumped out of the car, you were planning on following him. That quickly changed when you heard something from the other side of the car. Letting Dave go his own way - he's a big, strong boy, he can do this on his own - you quietly circle the car, looking for whatever caused that noise. However, all you get is confusion as you stand where you started. For a second, you wonder if it was just your imagination, just as the noise is there again. With a quick movement, you duck and see if there's someone underneath the car. The gap between metal and street is empty, but you keep scanning the surroundings for feet. "Where are you hiding...?", you murmur.  
To your surprise, a voice answers. "I'm not hiding, idiot!" Next, someone literally kicks your ass, and you roll elegantly over the ground back to your feet. A figure jumps behind the car, too fast for you to get a picture, but fun time's over now. With one leap, you're on the car, overseeing the whole area. And there it is, just as you imagined: A dark creature tries to roll under your car, but you're faster. Not even a second and you're pinning it to the ground. The dark creature doesn't really seem to be bothered by that though. It's female, has shoulder long hair, and wears flashy red glasses. In one hand, it's got a cane in its grip and you can see it's not letting go.  
"Wow, you really must be a jerk, attacking a blind girl like that.", is the dark creature's first snarky comment. You decide not to mention that you and Dave have also caught one that's paralysed. Also, is this thing even actually blind? How did it know where you were looking then?  
"I'm sorry, but you're coming with me.", you say without allowing any protest. The creature doesn't seem to care much. "Where are we going?", it asks, but you don't bother answering. Instead, you take out handcuffs and a chain, and try to lock the creature's wrists. However, that's not all that easy. It struggles and is very successful with that.  
You try to pin down one of its hand and lock the handcuffs with the other, and the creature decides to take that chance. There's a fist in your face, and you can feel its other hand slipping out of your grip to. The moment you've gathered yourself, there's a cane on your head and a pain in your brain. With one quick movement, you grab your katana and slash in its direction, but it's already running. You run after it, and luckily, you're a bit faster. The moment you're close enough, you leap and attack with your katana.  
The creature turns around, just in time to avoid your attack and block your next hit with its cane. You let attacks rain onto the creature, but it manages to block all of them. You gotta say, pretty good considering its only weapon is a walking cane.  
"And you're telling me you're blind?", you ask after being thrown back a few feet. The creature giggles. "Yes, stupid! I'm blind! But I still can smell you...!" You make a mental note to take a shower soon and attack again.  
It doesn't look bad for you until the big guy appears and punches you about ten meters further.  
He's a tall, broad and muscular dark creature with long black hair, and he's already lacking a few teeth. Also, his fist feels like a hammer made out of steel, and you didn't really enjoy getting that into your guts. You just hope you didn't break any bones and quickly get on your feet again.  
The guy approaches you. He's dangerous, you know that now, but that doesn't mean you can't defeat him. With your awesome katana, you'll have no problem defea-  
Your katana. It's not in your hand anymore.  
In panic, you scan the street for your katana. There it is, just a few meters away from you. You jump and run towards it, but before you're there, another hand snatches it. A face covered by red glasses grins at you and you realize that you might be in trouble.  
Guess you'll have to go with your gun instead.  
It takes you less than one second to grab it, aim and shoot at the muscular creature. That would've been really awesome if you hadn't missed. The creatures however don't waste a single moment: the female runs away and hides behind one of the houses while the male runs zigzag, but...towards you? You fire three more bullets before it leaps, and jumps over you. You aim once more and want to fire again as soon as it lands when you realize something. It's not going for you anymore.  
It's been going for your car.  
Horrified, you watch as it takes your car and lifts it with its bare hands. Now definitely in panic, you fire all the bullets you have left, but the creature is smart enough to shield itself with the car. The moment you realize your gun's empty, you know you're really, really fucked.  
The last thing you see is a big piece of metal flying in your direction, then everything goes black.  
This means, you have to stop being Bro for now.

Now, who else will you be? There's Dave of course, who might or might not be finding out what the fuck's up with Nepeta and why Nepeta (you as a Homestuck fan of course know it's Nepeta) is looking for Nepeta, which has confused you.  
But nah, let's be Rose instead. You've never been Rose so far.  
You're currently in the Strider's residence because that's where all the dark creatures are. Usually, you store monsters in the Lalonde residence, but Strider senior wanted to keep the dark creatures near his gear.  
While the Striders are out hunting vampires, you decide to check on the creatures you've caught. First, you have a look at the paralysed one. It's still in its cell, even though the cell is rather symbolic since it isn't able to run away anyway. With an ice cold smile, you greet it. "Hello Tavros. How are you?", you ask, and your voice echoes which makes you sound a bit like a creepy ghost. You enjoy that more than you should.  
The creature raises its head. "I'm...I'm great! I'm working on a plan to bust out!" You know that the creature's actually wanting to hide from you. However, you wouldn't want it to starve or anything, so you gotta keep it fed. "Do you need food or water?", you ask, and smile like a banshee. The creature shakes its head. "I-I don't need anything from you!", it exclaims, and you sigh. "I'm merely trying to prevent you from starving. But well, if you're speaking the truth, I guess I can leave now." You try to use the echo for extra effect, and walk out extra slowly so the creature has time to change its mind. Surprisingly, it doesn't.  
You decide to check on the other as well. Out of obvious reasons, you're keeping them in different rooms.  
The moment you enter, the creature tackles the grid and makes noise. You keep your distance as you talk to it. "Do you need food or water?", you ask again, but this time, you get a different answer. The creature opens its eyes widely and sticks a hand threw the bars. "I need...sopor slime! I need it! I NEED IT!" You're quite surprised by this development of the situation. "What is sopor slime?", you ask, trying to hide your grand curiosity. The creature grins broadly and looks creepier than you. "It's a miracle!" Not this again. You almost forgot that this creature is absolutely useless. "Well.", you answer, and continue: "Will you die, if you don't get any of this...sopor slime?" "No...", is the answer, and once again, the creature's expression changes. It frowns. "It's just that all the miracles will be gone."  
Honestly, this sounds like an advantage to you. You figure that sopor slime is a kind of drug for dark creatures and the reason why this particular example didn't help you at all. If it sobers up, you might have the chance to get some information out of it, so you decide to leave it alone.  
A few hours later, you realize you made a grave mistake.

Back in the present, you are oblivious to your faults and leave with a smile on your face. Back in the normal apartment, you check on some of the devices. You know a few things about them, different from Dave, who never seems to bother with them much. The many functions of the newest machine, the dark creature radar, haven't been explained to you yet though, but most of it is obvious anyway. You decide to take a look.  
Upon further examination, you can see four spots very close to each other. They're in the same area as the vampires. For a moment, you wonder if dark creatures and vampires have something to do with each other, but quickly push that thought away. Ever since the vampire epidemic, there have been a bunch of empty houses there (after a few disappearances, most people decided to move away as quickly as possible) and thus, monsters as well as runaway teenagers have taken a liking to hiding in this area.  
You see if there are any more spots on the map.  
There are two overlapping in the Strider residence - the two you've caught. Another is moving rapidly, and after trying to figure where it's going, you figure it's not really going anywhere but just moving all over the place without a certain destination. There's also one far outside the city. You tap the screen and a small window opens that just says "Honey Dude". You tap another one and the window changes to "Zombie Girl". Now these are some interesting labels Dave's dear brother made. You decide to check which are close to the vampires, and tap one after another. The results are "Horse Guy", "Red Eyed Chick", "Who The Fuck" and the last window's empty. You assume it's new and hasn't been given a name yet.  
Just as you're trying to close the window which seems to be a bit of a struggle, Dave calls you. Confused because Dave isn't supposed to use his mobile anymore, you accept the call.  
"Yes?", you say, but Dave's already talking. "Look, Rose, I can't say much because some asshole's probably eavesdropping right now, but we're in deep shit. Bro's gone and the car's upside down."  
That certainly is an unexpected development of matters.  
"Do you know why this is?", you ask. "No.", Dave answers, "But I've got a chance of figuring a lot of things out if you gimme a hand here. You know how to use the darkie radar, right?" "Yes, I do. Why, do I need to trace one for you?", you ask, and tap some dots in the vampire area again. Dave responds: "Yeah, some kitty girl. Uh, she should be around here." "There are quite some around there, Dave. You'll have to be more specific." Dave seems surprised about that. "Really? Well, it's a cat girl or something and she's probably running away from me or hiding." You tap all of the dots again, but none of them is labeled as a cat girl. You decide to give him directions for Who The Fuck instead because the one with an empty window is not moving at all.  
Dave thanks you and hangs up before you can say anything else. You shake your head about that. Why does he have to be in such a rush? Sighing, you sit down and try to make sense of all this.

You know what? Let's be Sollux.  
You are now again Sollux and you just heard that conversation. At this moment, you can't really tell whether this "Bro" guy being gone is good or bad, but Nepeta sure is worried. What is more helpful is the fact that they have a radar for dark creatures, and if you're lucky, it's connected to some computer or mobile so that you can hack in and have a look yourself. But what grasps your attention the most is the fact that there's a kitty girl dark creature.  
You've been staring at Nepeta for some minutes now, and she's jumping and running around the room as if she's high. There's a kitten girl dark creature. You open a file on your laptop and read through its words again. There aren't many words, just a few, but suddenly, they mean a lot more.  
"Nepeta?", you say, and the girl jumps to your side and sits creepily still. "Yes?" "I'm not thure, but I think I'm on to thomething."  
Maybe there is a way to get her back after all.

There's something this chapter obviously lacks, and that is, being the main character. In case you forgot, that's Dave. Dave Strider. First class coolkid. Top notch monster hunter. Finally, you're him again.  
Also, we're going a few minutes into the past.  
The kitten girl grins and suddenly, you have tons of questions. What does Nepeta have to do with this? Why is this creature looking for her? Only now, you realize that they're both into cats, but that's really all the connection there is.  
Wait. Nepeta said she was supposed to hate you.  
What if Nepeta's on the darkie's side?  
Before you can say any of that aloud, the creature's running, and fuck is it fast. You try to keep up with it but it's super swift, taking extra complicated roofs and climbing fences like nothing, confusing you with endless curves and senseless circling around until it finally gets away. Gasping for breath, you crouch in front of one of the houses. It can't be far but until you've found it, it's probably gone. You doubt it's gonna stay here now.  
You could really use a fast vehicle right now. Like, a car or something.  
Your sides hurt but that doesn't stop you from running back to your car. While you're on your way, you wonder where Bro's been staying anyway. But when you arrive, a surprise awaits, and not the good kind of surprise.  
On the street, there lies what was once a car and now is mostly junk. There's blood, red human blood, but no trace to where Bro is.  
Panicking, you look around. You look under the car, you scan the streets for any spots of blood, you scream and yell for Bro, but you don't receive an answer.  
You pray that Bro's just doing something on his own and will be back any minute, but the upside down car and the puddle of blood say otherwise.  
Trying not to lose your cool, you take out your phone and call Rose. A conversation happens that is nothing new, and afterwards, you go to where Rose told you to go. If you find out who Nepeta really is, then maybe, just maybe, you're gonna figure everything out.

Of course, this is not actually the case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, reaching 10 000 words!


	7. Dead Girl's Grave

You are now a dark creature, but what your name is, you can't bring yourself to care about that.  
You wonder if going to the graveyard after talking to HER was a good idea. Maybe it wasn't. You don't really care. You hardly care about anything at all, lately. Why that is, you don't know, and you don't care either. SHE said it was because you died. SHE got pretty mad at you for dying too, anyway. It's not like you care much about that.  
Nobody's here. Nobody but the dead. When you were alive, you came here often, wondering if the dead in their graves sometimes felt lonely. Now your question is answered with, no, they don't. They don't feel in general. Even if they're alive like you, being dead drains you of all of your emotions. It kind of confuses you, thinking about whether you're dead or alive. You don't really care though.  
The gravel crunches under your every step, and the wind sings a song of cold and loneliness. The trees rustle quietly, as if to mourn the dead. When you died, a lot of people mourned your death. Your funeral was a big deal, as far as you know. You weren't there.  
There it is, finally, the dark, polished stone. Flowers try to grow in front of your grave, but they're closer to dying, and a single candle stands there that already went out yesterday. This isn't really the kind of grave you always dreamed of, but you stopped caring, naturally.  
You wonder if the girl in the grave knows more about yourself than you do.  
Your fingers reach out to the black stone, to the name that's written on it. Below, two numbers, two years, too close to each other. A cold feeling creeps under your skin as you run your fingers along the letters.  
A R A D I A M E G I D O  
This is your grave.

Huh. Your grave? Wow.  
Let's be someone else so that we won't find out what all that mystery stuff was about for the rest of the chapter. More precisely, let's be Dave.  
You make no sound as you creep into the house where Rose told you that cat girl darkie is. You wonder where she's hiding. On tiptoes, you make your way down to the cellar silently. There are spots of some green liquid. Bull's eye, you think, and look around for more trails. One doorknob has green liquid on it. With a smug grin on your face – you can't help but feel like a goddamn professional right now – you open it without a sound.  
The room behind it is small, and there's no sign of cat darkie. You squint your eyes to see something in the dark, see if she is hiding, until it strikes you.  
It's a trap.  
Before you can turn around, you feel someone kicking you in the back, and fall forward. The door slams shut, and you hear the sound of something heavy being moved. In panic, you jump to the door and try to open it, but you hit some huge object. Through only one inch you can see the dark creature running away, giggling, and then you're alone.  
You slam yourself against the door, but whatever she put there isn't moving. Groaning, you take your mobile, hold it through the small space between door and wall, and take a photo. Behind the door is, apparently, a huge shelf, and it's not just heavy as fuck, it's also jammed between the door and the opposite wall.  
Great.  
You hate calling people when your mobile is hacked, but it looks like you have no choice.

So let's be Sollux.  
If you had a wish right now, you wished Nepeta would shut the fuck up. How are you supposed to focus when she is acting like the drugged human embodiment of Nyan Cat?  
“Do you think I can meet her? I mean, the darkies aren't bad, right?”, she squeals and bounces. She's been doing that for about half an hour. “Well.”, you say. “We don't really know whether the darkieth are bad or not, and ath for meeting her, I really don't know. I don't think I could take two of you at the thame time.” Nepeta pouts, and you turn back to your screen.  
The window through which you access the younger hunter's mobile shows a message: Calling (Rose): Eavesdrop? y/n  
You gesture Nepeta to be quiet, and press y.  
“Rose. I need your help.”, a boy's voice says. The younger hunter, you suppose.  
“What a surprise. How can I help you?”, a girl answers. Rose, you suppose.  
“Okay, I'm gonna make this real quick because those pieces of shit are probably listening in on this, but that place where you sent me...” He hesitates, and you try to stop Nepeta's giggling. “Well, in short, that piece of shit darkie trapped me and I'm not getting outta here on my own. We gotta look for Bro, and stop the vampies before it's dark.” “Oh my. I'll come instantly, and I'll assist you with the-”  
Her voice is cut off. You look at Nepeta, but she's just as confused. “Rose?”, the boy asks. “Rose!”  
Rose doesn't answer.  
There's a scream. A lot of noises you can't identify, but it doesn't seem like something good.  
Finally, there's a voice again, but it's not Rose's. “You made a terrible mistake, motherfucker.”, it says, “You made a terrible mistake.”  
Then everything is silent.  
Your face is pale, and your hands are shaking. Suddenly, you wished you would have never gotten involved. Maybe you just witnessed a murder. She could be dead. DEAD. Killed, even.  
Suddenly, the boy's voice is back.  
“Okay, let's not pretend I don't know you guys hacked my mobile and are listening to this. I have no idea if we're on the same side, or if we're enemies, I have no idea what you want except that I know you want information on the darkies. I mean, dark creatures. So I'll make you a deal.”  
You look at Nepeta, and Nepeta looks at you with wide eyes.  
“You two know where I am. Probably. Wouldn't surprise me if you were nearby, anyway. You come here, and get me out of here, I go save Rose from whatever's happening – if she's still alive – and then I tell you all about dark creatures that you need to know. If you come, we have a deal. Just remember that we're probably the only humans who know anything about the dark creatures. And don't you dare come without Nepeta.”  
That's the last you hear before the connection suddenly dies.

You stare at your phone, trying to process what you just did.  
You, Dave Strider, are making deals with strangers who might want to kill you.  
On the other hand, saving Rose's ass is definitely worth it. Hell, you'd let anyone throw a horse at you anytime if it meant saving her life.  
You just hope you're not late. The connection suddenly died, and you're pretty sure it's not your phone that's to blame.  
You try everything you can to get out of the trap, even though you know it's pointless. The door proves to be stable enough, and the shelf won't move an inch. You can hardly fit your hand through the small gap you have, much less your entire arm or even your body. Finally, you sigh and let yourself sink onto the ground. The only hope you have is that your deal with the devil was not for nothing. Nepeta and her “friend” are your only hope.  
And maybe, they do know something you don't. Cat darkie was looking for Nepeta after all.  
All of a sudden, you hear steps.  
“Eww, what'th thith?”, you hear a boy say. A girl answers. “Maybe it's some slime that dark creatures produce?” What a high-pitched voice. You peek through the gap, and spot the guy. He seems kind of asian. His hair has the color of honey, but you can see it's not his natural hair color. He's tall, thin and wears glasses. The frame's red on the right, and blue on the left. Really, you think. He looks nerdy enough to be the one to hack your mobile, but you don't wanna throw around any prejudice here.  
If it's him though, that would mean that the girl is Nepeta.  
You try to see her, but you can't, so you shout instead. “Nepeta?” You hear someone squeal, and the guy stops at once and looks around. You groan and shout again. “I'm here! In here!”  
Finally, you hear how something heavy is moved. “Dave, is that you?”, Nepeta shouts. “Yes!”, you answer, eager to get out of this fucking room.  
Finally, there's a loud noise, and the door opens. You breath. Freedom.  
Then you spot Nepeta, and absolutely lose it.

Your name is Terezi Pyrope, and you can't see a fucking thing.  
A thought strikes you. Maybe you should take a whiff and try to smell your surroundings. Wouldn't it be possible to recognize them by scent, isn't that something you learned?  
Nah. What a stupid idea. Humans can't smell THAT well.  
The doctors said that vision will eventually return to you, but only on ONE (1) eye. You suppose that's enough. Seeing with ONE (1) eye is all you need. The problem is, right now, the number of your seeing eyes is ZERO (0).  
Your hearing's just fine though.  
“Who's there?”, you ask sharply as you hear steps, and for extra effect you pick up your cane and point at whoever is coming. The person stops, and laughs. “It's just me, Terezi. What a bother that you can't see, right? It must be SUCH a nuisance.”  
You know that voice. “Vriska.”, you growl.  
“Yes, it's me. Aren't you happy to see me? Oh, I mean, hear. I'm sorry.” You know she's not. After all, she and her stupid lazer are responsible for this. The times when she used to be your best friend suddenly seem so far away. “What do you want?”, you ask. Vriska pushes your cane out of her way, and you can feel her sitting down on your bed. “Oh, I thought I'd just visit you. We used to be best friends, remember?” “Yes, but that's not why you came here.”, you answer. Vriska laughs. “Ah, Terezi, you're as smart as ever. And that's the actual reason why I'm here. You're smart.” “Yes, I am.”, you respond. “And how does that lead you here?” “It brings me here because I need a smart person to figure something out. Aradia died, right?”, she asks as casual as talking about the weather. You answer just as casual. “You killed her.” “That's a matter of perspective. If you ask Sollux, he'll tell you that HE killed her. If you ask the media, she herself is responsible for it. And if you ask me, I say it's just how things tied up. I only told her to climb on the train. Sollux could've stopped her, but he didn't. She herself should've known that people don't survive the electric shocks that you get when you're on a train, but she forgot. And that's how she died.”, Vriska explains. You shake your head. “I should kill you.” “Well, you nearly did.” Vriska answers. “But that's besides the point. What I'm trying to say is, the fact that Aradia is dead is undeniable.” “I can confirm that.”, you say, nodding.  
Something in Vriska's voice changes. It becomes lower, more serious, maybe even...scared?  
“Well.”, she says. “That would mean that ghosts exist, because I saw her today. In front of her own grave.”  
Naturally, you'd think she'd be messing with you. It's just, you know Vriska really well. You can tell when she's lying, and you can tell when she's absolutely telling the truth. And that was not a lie.  
“You're schizophrenic, I'm not even surprised.”, you say. Vriska makes a “Tch” sound. “I'm not crazy. I know what I saw, and it was definitely her, just different.” “Paranoid schizophrenia.”, you continue. “The subject isn't necessarily aware of its psychosis.” “I'm not insane, Terezi! I saw Aradia, she was grey, her eyes were blank and she had horns, but it was Aradia. She met Sollux. He was grey too, and his glasses were different, and he had horns, but it was him. I recognize that voice anywhere.” “Did you drink alcohol?” “Don't you want to hear what he said?” You shake your head. “No. Not really.”  
Vriska stays silent for a few seconds, and you wonder what she's doing. Finally, she speaks up. “Terezi, Sollux said that they were created by someone. A woman. HER. He said that their purpose is to kill everyone.”  
You shake your head. “I don't believe that.” “Well, you should! It's true!”, Vriska protests. “He also said that they were going against it, going against HER...and he knows who we are.”  
“I can't believe I'm saying this but you're crazier than I thought.”, you groan. “Leave.” “But-” “Leave.” “Terez-” “Leave.” “Will you just-” “Leave.”  
Vriska gives up. “Alright. I can do this on my own, I just thought working together with you would be faster. Well, if a dead Aradia comes by, don't come crying for help.” You hear her walk to the door, where she stops once more. “I'd say you'll regret this, but this whole regretting thing is kind of getting old.”  
That's all she says before she leaves. You shrug and lie back down. If Vriska goes crazy now, you wouldn't even feel sorry for her. Breaking her arm was never all that satisfying anyway, compared to her murder.  
But seriously. A dead girl coming back to life, gray people with horns, and something trying to kill everyone? There's no way any of this could be true.  
It's kind of obvious that it won't take long until you're convinced otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next chapter, when we will see how many of these cliffhangers I'll resolve, and how many I'll add. Also, I really appreciate EVERY comment!


End file.
